User blog:Breywood/Diablo II - May 2013 Reset - Progress
I've been playing along with several characters, and I think that although retirement may be not too far away, I'm still finding these builds challenging. Without further ado, though, I'll post what I have as work-in-progress. Keep in mind that I only trade for runes to upgrade exceptional armor and weapons to their Elite versions. Level 75 Paladin: FoH, PvM. Yes, I know. The FoH paladin is a PvP build. I figured I'd horse around with one because I've done another Conviction build before. He's a decent caster, but last night I needed my Summoner Necromancer to eek him past Duriel. He'd completely own my Act 2 Hireling with a Bonehew, Duriel's Shell and Naj's circlet, and me running around with resistances all in the red, it didn't end well. On the whole, he's decent, albeit nothing compared to the hammerdin. A challenge, to be sure, but not impossible. I'd have needed a better strategy against Duriel, namely a bit more crushing blow and some open wounds. I think that having a Duress on either my merc or myself and smiting him for a fair bit would have worked out. Boosted resistances would have been key as well. Gear: *Helmet: Rare with a Frost Nova proc and Memory attributes. *Amulet: +30% all res blue amulet or a +3 to combat skills. I also have a +3 offensive auras which I may use. *Body Armor:I admit it! This is the one thing I could have easily changed. A 4ptopaz Full plate armor. I should have made a Smoke pr Treachery armor for my encounter. *Belt: Goldwrap. I also have a Gloom's Trap, but I think the Bladebuckle would have been handy against Duriel. *Gloves: Chance guards, although I have Frostburns and Magefists as well. *Ring: 25% magic find. I should pick something else. *Ring: a 10%FCR +23 cold res +24 cold res rare ring. *Boots: rare "walkers" 10%FHR, 25% Heal Stamina and some minor lightning and poison res. also 24% magic find. I had a pair of unidentified goblin toes sitting in my stash. I should have put them to use. *Weapon: Spectral Shard. 50%FCR, +10% all resistances and +50 Mana *Shield: Wall of the Eyeless 20% FCR and some mana-related bonuses. *Weapon: Knell Striker 25% crushing blow, 20% Fire and poison resistances. *Shield: Lance Guard. 30%FHR, +50 life and 15% damage goes to mana. Hireling: Act 2 "Holy Freeze" *Weapon: Bonehew. *Armor: Duriel's Shell *Helm: Naj's Circlet Level 71Paladin: Emodin Okay, this is a build I'm going to have to write up sometime. The tactics for the Emodin are pretty much the same as they are for the Avenger, but with a different skills set. Take Sacrifice and build it and its synergies to 20. Put 1 point each skill of the Holy Shield branch. Grab a reasonably fast high damage beating stick and beat everything senseless. Again, the hammerdin may crank out higher damage, but I can't say that I'm displeased with the result. Gear: *Helmet: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest. *Amulet: A rare amulet that has a base +20% to all resistances and then stacks another 33% in lightning. *Body Armor:I have Iron Pelt at the moment, but I also have a Shaftstop. It seems at the moment, Integer damage reduction works better than the % reduction. *Belt: Wilhel,'s Pride. 5% dual leech and just waiting for the helm to drop sometime. *Gloves: Magnus' Skin. Nothing great, but when complete the Orphan's Call set is excellent. *Ring: Dwarf Star. *Ring: Raven Frost *Boots: I have a choice of Goblin Toes (which I think I'll move to my assassin after I upgrade them) and Gore Riders. I admit I'm a challenge junkie, but I'm not THAT much of a challenge junkie. *Weapon: Upgraded Butcher's Pupil. When in doubt, cheap, one handed, fast and kicks out nice damage. *Shield: Tiamat's Rebuke. A fun shield because of the procs and elemental damage, but also useful because of the resistance bonus. *Weapon: Crushflange. 33% crushing blow to cut the initial chunks out of bosses. *Shield: Whitstan's Guard. Excellent blocking bonuses, but also because I'm looking to collect Guillaume's Face. Hireling: Act 5 *Weapon: Lawbringer Legend sword *Armor: Ethereal Hawkmail. Upgraded. I may trade some gems for making it elite. *Helm: Wormskull And for now, I'm going to break it into two parts because I have a few more characters that I've been playing on and off. Category:Blog posts Category:Blog posts